Ever been to Build-A-Bear?
I used to enjoy it as much as my kids when they got birthday money and off we went to create the plushy pal of their dreams. Choosing cute little outfits, deciding whether it should be a monkey, a kitty, a turtle... A best friend of your own making...now that's the way to do it.
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The problem comes when we treat God the same way. We have a Build-A-God society. Ever heard someone announce with great pomp and authority, "Well, MY god would never send anyone to Hell?"
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"MY god is big enough to incorporate all religions..."
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"My god is la-la-la..." As though they, by imagining it, can create God any way they'd like Him to be. Where did we get the idea that we could design our own god?
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I guess the Israelites had the same problem way back there in the desert. God wasn't doing things the way they thought things should be done, so: "Hey, Aaron! Build us a god. Maybe a golden calf...on a nice big pedestal..."
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If you've read the Old Testament, God was not impressed. "I AM Who I AM" was His self-description. He can't be defined, designed, or aligned with our ideas of what a god should be like. He has no intention of being created in our image and we are fools if we think for a moment we can do that.
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He has given us a lifetime of information about Himself in the Bible, the most historically reliable manuscript the world possesses. To leave out parts we don't like or understand is to begin our trip to Build-a-god.
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And what eventually happens to most of those delightful child-built creations? Tossed under beds, stuffed in boxes in the attic, worn out, used up. The same thing happens to self-created gods. They don't last. There's no substance. They change with the times and who wants a god like that?
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Be sure YOUR God is the real one--not one you designed yourself.
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